Schneider Electric to expand its retail business in South India with launch of ‘Switch On India’ campaign in Coimbatore

Coimbatore: June 26, 2017: Schneider Electric, the global specialist in energy management and automation, has firmed up plans to acquire a bigger market share in the Rs. 5000 crore market for low voltage electrical products such as MCBs, RCCBs, Distribution Boards, Switches & Sockets across India. As part of its expansion drive in South India, the low-voltage electrical retail market for which is pegged at Rs. 1200 crore, the company today unveiled its mobile Van Campaign ‘Switch on India’ in Coimbatore in a bid to reach out to end customers, electricians and retailers.

Under the initiative, Schneider will showcase its range of green low-voltage electrical products in Tamil Nadu and engage with local electricians and retailers to generate awareness around safety and efficiency. The van will display Schneider Electric Final Distribution (FD) and Wiring Devices (WD) products. A total of 8 such vans will travel across different electrical markets in the country, covering close to 100 cities over the next one month. The vans will travel across the states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, West Bengal and states of North East.

Flagging off the campaign in Coimbatore, Manish Khandelwal, Director Sales, Schneider Electric India said, “The trends of urbanisation, industrialisation and digitisation are creating opportunities for growth in Coimbatore making it a city on a growth path. They also present significant challenges in terms of security, efficiency and sustainability. Through this campaign, we are committed to making available safe and sustainable solutions for end users. Retailers and electricians constitute an important part of the value chain of the electrical retail market and we aim to engage with them through this campaign which will help us add more value to the lives of our end consumers.”

Buildings, both residential and commercial - are currently responsible for more than 40% of global energy and one third of global greenhouse gas emissions. Through its green range of products, the company seeks to reduce the carbon footprint of buildings which can play a key role in mitigating climate change in India.

Schneider Electric is already executing an Electrician Training program under which it has trained more than 50,000 electricians across India. The company plans to open training centres in 500 districts across the country and help set up a Centre of Excellence focused on power, solar and automation sectors. It has partnered with the Ministry of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship to cooperate in reducing the huge skilled manpower gap in India's power sector. Under this initiative, the company will also support 100 basic electrician labs under the Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY).

The company has a state-of-the-art manufacturing plant in Chennai which caters to product demand in more than 100 countries with more than 2000 employees most of which are women.